The Four Corners of balance
by leo-nor-yee
Summary: A bored spirit pulls four friends from earth into the Four Nations and gives each of them access to the bending of an element in accordance to their personality. I don't own anything in this story except the OCs.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Boredom.

That was the only feeling that Sarz-Ku, one of the most ancient spirits, ever felt. Today was no exception. All he did and all he could do was watch the two worlds he was forced to guard over: Earth and The Four Nations. Watch the insane jumble of events unfold on Earth, then watch the Avatar do whatever, forever and ever. Just... Boredom.

He supposed there was nothing that could be done. He had always had an idea, an idea that would bring positive change to both these worlds. A small teleport: bringing four selected teens over from Earth into The Four Nations. Each of these Four teens would be chosen with a set of guidelines: one, they all had to know each other fairly well, at least name, where they lived, what they looked like, etc. Two, each had to correspond to a certain element, out of the four, the matched them perfectly. Third, and most importantly, none of them could be evil.

But this, of course, wasn't possible.

Or was it?

Just because, Sarz-Ku took a look into Earth. He instantly saw four perfect candidates. But he couldn't just drag them from their homes... Or could he?

All of this was floating in his mind when he had a realization: what could stop him? All the other powerful Spirits had gone to The Four Nations; it simply was a purer, cleaner and better place for spirits. They wouldn't mind a few visitors.

Sarz-Ku laughed. He was finally going to escape boredom! But he had to do this carefully; after all, one flap of a butterfly wing can cause a hurricane. This was going to be great!

Now, to call the four together...

Chapter 1

Delphine stared out the bus window at the rain that was currently pelting the city. She had always felt some sort of affinity towards water; how it flowed down the river of life and supplied all the planet's life forms. But her life on earth was getting dull... Homework just was too boring, school was too easy. She had been told next year, Grade 9, things would be more challenging. But they never got harder, every year.

Just then, out of nowhere, her vision blurred. A voice screamed into her ear: Water.

Suddenly, she was unconscious.

—-—–—–—

Ellis yawned at the thugs he had just downed. Bullies, the lot of them. Terrorizing the years below them. He took out three of them, just took all their punches like a tank. The small kids looked up at him in amazement, but he just smiled and walked away. Those thugs wouldn't be touching those kids again.

Out of nowhere his vision blurred. A voice screamed into his ear: Earth.

Suddenly he was unconscious.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Kai strolled elegantly through his family's garden. His father was a wealthy businessman and his mother was a famous actress. They were always away on business trips, however.

Kai sighed. It would be months before they returned from their vacation to Venice, where they would 'get away from taking care of him'. He spat at the thought;his parents ignored him anyway.

Out of nowhere, his vision blurred. A voice screamed into his ear: Fire.

Suddenly, he was unconscious.

The only light on in Marco's room was that of his computer as he watched Avatar: The Last Airbender for the third time. He loved that show so much it was all that was in his thoughts for the past 2 weeks. He just couldn't bring himself to watch Legend of Korra; the gaang was so much more interesting.

But even more so, he felt like it was some internal part of him. Like it was his destiny...

Out of nowhere his vision blurred. A voice screamed into his head: Air.

Suddenly, he was unconscious.

Sarz-Ku laughed. Four friends, teens, all the same age, at 14 years old. All of them unhappy with their lives in some way, all of them each matching one of the elements. It was perfect! And they were stirring.. Time to start this!

-Greetings, young earthlings. I am Sarz-Ku, guardian spirit of Earth and the Four Nations.

Marco lifted his eyebrows in shock while the others just stared, wondering if this was a dream.

-You have been selected to take part in a certain... adventure. In... another world.

At this point Marco was ecstatic and the others seemed mildly interested.

-In this world, there are four ancients arts called bending. Each art is essentially the bending of a certain element. I imagine you all have an element that has been drilled into your consciousness? I'll take your looks of confusion as a yes. So here is the deal: you must complete your adventure here. Find your own path; it should be fun. At the end of your path I will send you back home. As well, you will all be teleported to various points of interest that match your element and bending art. You will also have the ability to see, hear and speak the languages of the world; it will look like English to you.

-One last thing: I will be notifying the entire world you are visiting. Good luck!

Marco had just enough time to say one quick sentence before they all passed out:

-Don't trust... The fire nation.

Marco awoke in a place he thought to be part of a TV show: the southern air temple. He hadn't been awake for five seconds before he heard a booming voice:

-Mortals and Spirits of this world! I am Sarz-Ku, the most powerful spirit in the world! I have brought four guests over from another world! They each have their own style of bending that matches their personality, gifted to them by yours truly! Each of them is at a point of interest that matches their bending: for example, the Airbender is at one of the air temples! Hehehe... One more thing: spirits, you cannot interfere... if you do, there will be severe consequences.. like...

Out of nowhere the sun disappeared. For a second Marco felt as cold as the North Pole that he was probably going to visit. Then the sun returned.

-There you have it! I wish everyone in this world, and our four guests, much fun! Farewell!

And with that the voice disappeared, and Marco was left alone for possibly a very long time.

But that couldn't stop him. He was in the world that was constantly in this thoughts. He needed to plan everything out.

First things first: the fire nation was probably coming to all the air temples as fast as their machines and ridiculous animals could carry them. He needed to leave as fast as possible.

But there was another factor: deep down he knew something: he had to join the gaang. He had no idea where he was in the timeline, however. Well then, he thought, time to make some deductions.

His biggest clue was the fact a spirit brought him here. That spirit knew he watched Avatar and that he would want to join the gaang. He couldn't be that far from where they were. So, the gaang had to be somewhere within the year of their adventure, in the time they spent from the South Pole to Sozzin's comet.

Next was the time of year. It was hot, the vegetation had grown in and there was slight sign of the leaves getting ready to change in a few weeks. Probably late summer-ish.

So the gaang was probably going to arrive sometime soon or they had passed already. Great..

Marco sat down and immediately noticed something: he was dressed in typical Airbender monk robes, exactly like the ones Aang wore. He didn't have any tattoos, though.

Then it came to him: the spirit said he was gifting him airbending. Marco slowly lifted his arm into the air and rapidly did three punches forward into the air. Three small puffs of air came out of each punch.

Marco grinned. Super cool! He still had much to learn, however. But deep down he knew: this was gonna be a fun time, away from all the boringness of earth.

AN: If you couldn't tell, this story is going to start with only Marco, then the other earthlings will turn up as the story progresses. I will try to make one small chapter a day. And with that, enjoy!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It had been three weeks since Marco was dragged into the four nations from the world he once called home, the world he and his friend hated, for one reason or another. About one week after he arrived, the Fire Nation stormed the temple and searched every nook and cranny. He had been hiding in a small, hidden cave near the base of the temple.

There had been no sign of the gaang anywhere. He checked the gateway to the avatar room and noticed there were intact spider webs inside the horn; so the gaang had yet to arrive. Maybe they were being driven off by the Fire Nation; maybe Katara and Sokka hadn't found Aang yet. Or worse: maybe the arrival of him and the other earthlings triggered a hole in the plot line. Another thing was he was unable to practice Airbending, since the Fire Nation was practically living right next to him.

Marco sighed. There were simply too many unknowns. Curse that spirit for telling the world of his game! He had made it so he almost couldn't find Aang!

Suddenly, he heard a loud bang above him. It sounded sort of like a drill, but not quite. It had more of a pushing sound to it.

Slowly but surely, Marco exited his little cave and peered at the temple. There was a huge metal vehicle of sorts that all the soldiers were climbing into. He waited patiently, as any true Airbender should, for anything that might give him a clue as to what was going on. Had they abandoned their search?

Just then two fancy-looking Fire Nation people exited the temple. They had the aura of snobby high-ranking officials. Marco could just barely make out what they were saying.

-As this mission wraps up, I would like to congratulate you on your success. Fire Lord Ozzai will almost certainly promote you if you keep this up.

Marco was completely confused. Success? But they hadn't found him! Suddenly a thought hit him: maybe they had and were just taunting him! Ugh, now he was making it worse! He took deep breaths. The best way to go about this, he realized, was to sit and wait. And so, like a true Airbender, he waited.

-Thank you for accompanying us, General. The perennial mission of investigating the four air temples has proved to be harder than it seems, though it is necessary. Can you imagine if an Airbender was alive?

-It is definitely true that we need to continue checking up on these ruins. Now, let's go.

The two officials climbed aboard the transport metal-tank thing, as Marco now called it, and closed the hatch behind them. The vehicle readied itself, shot a puff of smoke out of it's chimney and started off, going almost straight down the mountain.

Marco didn't even have time to process what had just happened before a voice behind him spoke.

-I can imagine how surprised you must be right now.

Marco flung himself around in a fraction of a second and found himself staring at none other than that spirit that had dragged him into this world.

-I strongly believe, Marco, that you and your friends were perfect for this role I have given you. You all are very unhappy with your lives on Earth: Delphine is bored and feels she has no purpose in life. She believes her future will be fruitless and working hard for that is pointless. This change in her life has given her resolve to keep trying, and she is facing many challenges.

-Ellis was in a state of repetition. Every day in his hard life he had to fight. Every time he won. Similar to Delphine, who did not have enough intellectual challenge, Ellis doesn't have enough physical challenge. With this change he is learning wisdom: to always pick your fights wisely. He's also getting a fair bit stronger, too.

-Kai detested his life. For all his time he was pestered in riches and everything he wanted except one thing: love. No one ever loved him or showed him any affection. He became very rigid and stubborn because of that. He will soon understand that to be flexible yet firm I some of the best ways of life for a person like him. He is also getting the affection he has wanted all his life.

-And last but not least, you. Marco, you always felt like your destiny lay outside earth, correct?

Marco quickly nodded his head in agreement.

-And when you watched AtLA, you rapidly made a strong, emotional bond with the world you saw on your screen. You knew, deep down, you were meant to be there. That compiled with your honestly horrific life, you were the perfect match for this world.

Marco was still very confused. He was still processing the information he had just received.

-Does that mean you taught me a lesson too?

-Yes! Sarz-Ku said while smiling at Marco. Let me explain:

-You needed to learn to not be so trusting of people. All of your life you have been forced to trust people, and that has been engraved in your mind. In order to complete the task I will soon assign you, you needed to learn mistrust. So, only to you and not to the others, I set myself up to look like a malevolent spirit bent on having my own fun. Furthermore, I did not tell anyone in this world about the arrival of you and your friends. The Fire Nation platoon that was here was on a routine check to see if anyone was inhabiting the temp,es or to see if they could find a lemur or two to kill. Utterly cruel and pointless, lemur hunting. Absolutely horrible.

-Anyway, you also needed to learn patience and gain the power to resist temptation. You had just gained an amazing new power you were hungering to use, but you knew the enemy would quite possibly hear you, so you waited. I thought this would prove to be very difficult for you, but I guess even spirits can be surprised: you passed this teaching step without a hitch. You are now, in body, mind and spirit, an air nomad. Congratulations!

Marco couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was an air nomad! One of the very people he thought didn't exist but deep down truly loved. He barely had time to revel in his newfound happiness, however.

-So it's great that I'm an air nomad and you are actually a kind spirit, but you mentioned a task. What, exactly, is this task?

Sarz-Ku's smiled dropped. He looked at Marco with a new level of seriousness.

-First of all, I need to tell you that you are the only earthling I talked too. You are the air in the ancient sequence of balance: Air, Water, Earth, Fire. You need to join the Gaang and help them complete their mission. I needed to bring you here because this world is on a course of failure. The Gaang will, without outside help, defeat the Fire Lord. You and your friends, who you will meet along the way, must set this world right again by traveling with the Gaang.

-Well, that was my plan anyway! Marco said while grinning from ear to ear. He was going to meet Aang! And the rest of his heroes!

-One more thing: do not disclose the information that you are from another world to anyone. I have seen the potential disasters that could cause; they aren't pretty. The Gaang will be here in about two weeks. During that time I ask you come up with a decent back story to tell the Gaang. And also: about getting home...

Marco's ears perked up. This was something he wanted to know.

Sarz-Ku's expression instantly morphed into a grin almost identical to that of King Boomy.

-You will have to find out for yourself! Good luck, and farewell!

And with that the spirit vanished into the air, leaving Marco behind with a ton of questions.

AN: That was probably super boring. But trust me, it was necessary! I plan to continue writing a tiny bit every night, then uploading it the next day, for a very long time. So R&amp;R, F&amp;F and stay tuned! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Where were they!?

Marco had his entire backstory planned. He set up some things in place so it would seem his backstory was true. Nothing could possibly go wrong.

Except for the fact the Gaang was supposed to arrive today. And Marco was a nervous wreck.

What if he messed up? What if the Gaang didn't believe him or let him tag along? He realized that there were, in fact, a huge amount of unknowns and things that could go horribly wrong. But Sarz-Ku had recognized that the risks needed to be taken in order to avert the crisis he said was definitely coming.

Marco was so deep in thought that he didn't notice the giant sky bison land on the ground about ten feet away from him. The sheer impact of the bison hitting the ground sent a mini shockwave through the ground that caused Marco to vibrate like a cell phone in a movie theatre.

Then he noticed three certain figures on top of the large creature. Marco couldn't breathe. He was not even a dozen feet away from his hero.

The said here grinned widely and airbended himself off the bison.

"I told you guys there were still Air Nomads here!" Aang shouted cheerfully to his companions who wore expression of skepticism and surprise on their faces.

Marco was freaking out. He needed to remember the backstory. Remember. Speak. Breathe.

"Actually..." Marco articulated slowly, "I am the only one left."

Aang frowned "What do you mean? I mean I don't _see_ any other air nomads but that doesn't mean they aren't there!" He said confusedly.

"Um... after the Fire Nation attacked our temple one hundred years ago, about five families got away and hid in a nearby cave. They started a new community of air nomads under the temple, at the base of the mountain."

Aang stood face to face with Marco, hanging on to his every word.

"Twice every year the Fire Nation came back to search for any people inhabiting the ruins or to kill a few lemurs. They had a strict schedule that stated they came at the same time every year. During that time all of us would hunker down into the cave."

Aang was still very confused. "So did the air nomads leave and left you behind to guard the lemurs or something? What happened?" he said quickly.

Marco gulped. "Well... about four months ago the Fire Nation was supposed to come check on the certain day. Except, for some reason, they came a week early and found us."

A look of surprise on Aang's face rapidly morphed into one of sadness. "And... you are the only survivor?"

Marco nodded, sharing Aang's sadness, depressed because he had just told a huge lie that hurt one of his heroes.

"Aang, take a second to consider this." said a new voice from behind Aang. "This is a lot more than we expected to find, right?" Marco recognized the girl as Katara.

"Yeah, this is great! Another Airbender is still alive! It's awesome!" said Sokka from behind her.

Aang looked sadly at the ground. "If I didn't run away, I could have helped more Airbenders. More people could have survived!"

"Don't blame yourself. It isn't your fault... Avatar Aang, I presume?" Marco said.

"Aang was, for a brief moment, shaken out of his depression by surprise. "How do you know my name?"

Marco smiled. "My grandfather told me stories of a kid who was the avatar that he used to play with. My grandfather told me his ran away. But he strongly believed he was still alive. My grandfather's name was Aincathir.".

Aang was shocked. "I remember him! We used to play together!"

Marco nodded. "I believed I had nothing left for me in this world. Now I have something. Aang, I ask, in the name of the Air Nomads, to please let me join your companions." Marco said tensely. This was it, the moment of truth. Would Aang accept or reject?

Marco barely had time to finish that thought before Aang cocked his head to the right, put his smile on full blast and said "Of course! We are the only two airbenders left! We should stick together!".

The feeling of relief in Marco was short-lived; he still had a large task ahead of him. "Thanks, Aang. I look forward to traveling with you guys. But before we leave, there is something I think you should see in this temple."

Aang smiled even larger. "Then let's go see this thing!".

AN: I was told that the format of dialogue made this story confusing, so from now on I will use quotations marks. Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Marco had noticed something on their walk to the avatar room in the air temple: he had already changed many things: the Gaang had not landed Appa lower down the mountain, they hadn't played airball, and most importantly, they weren't going to find Giatsu's skeleton! Therefore, the world would not learn about the avatar's return so soon. Marco's mind was having trouble processing the sheer amount of things that changed simply because he was standing where he was, that caused the Gaang to land higher up a mountain. But enough thought...

"The older airbenders in the group told us about this room that could only be unlocked by airbending. We were never to go inside, however; it was for the avatar only." Marco said as he lead the Gaang towards the room.

"Monk Giatsu told me I would meet someone who would guide me in this room! I never got to go in, though." Aang squealed excitedly as they approached the door to the room.

"Well, let's see what's inside! Help me airbend this door, will you?".

Aang nodded as they both sent a gust of air through the pipes on the door. The mechanisms on the door fell apart, and the door opened wide.

"Man, if there is someone in here, I hope they had food! I'm starving!" Sokka stated exasperantly.

As they walked in, Marco was stunned at the sheer amount of statues everywhere. You can't really appreciate things of beauty through a screen, he realized.

"Who are these people?" Katara asked to no one.

"It's all the previous avatars." Aang said without batting an eye. "Wait, how did I know that?"

Marco decided to point them in the right direction a bit. "It may be because these are your past lives, Aang. You know about them because they are, essentially, you." he said.

"Well I can kinda understand how these people, my past lives, are supposed to guide me, but how do I talk to them?".

For this, Marco stayed clear. "I suppose only time will tell."

Just then a footstep could be heard from outside the room. For a moment Marco panicked, but then remembered who, or more specifically, what, it was.

"Fire nation. No one move or make a sound!". Sokka whispered loudly.

"You're the one making a sound!" Katara hissed back, which earned her a shush from Aang.

Sokka peered around the corner and saw the next companion of the group, Momo. Aang looked the second after Sokka which earned a "Lemur!" from Aang and a "Food!" from Sokka.

Katara sighed as she and Marco watched the two run down the corridor, to which Marco simply grinned, whilst congratulating himself for his ingenuous changes to the temple.

AN: And there it is, another chapter a day late. Sorry. Tune in next time (hopefully tomorrow) to find out what else Marco did to the temple and maybe the start of Kyoshi island! Bye!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Aang tripped Sokka and then flew ahead, down the corridor. He wanted that lemur as a pet; there was no way it would turn into Sokka's dinner.

He chased it as it flew into a small cave. He stopped as he entered and took in the cave.

Along the walls were about 8 graves on each side of the corridor that bearded striking similarities to a hallway. One grave was much larger than the others, however; it was at the end of the hallway graveyard, seemingly belonging to someone important.

As Aang approached the grave, he noticed a faint inscription that was written on the front side of the grave:

To the greatest Airbender in recent history Saviour of many lives Loving and caring teacher and elder Monk Giatsu Passed away during the fire nation invasion of the southern air temple It was because of him the small group of air nomads lived You will be sourly missed and forever remembered

And on the top of the monument sat Giatsu's necklace.

Marco was content with how he set up the graveyard. He wanted Aang to still have hope; after all, the airbenders were not going to die out in the end. So he made a fancy monument to Giatsu, as well as making graves for all the other skeletons he could find. He tossed the fire nation things off the cliff. Even though this was morbid and, frankly, disgusting, Marco felt he needed to do it, for the sake of his hero.

It definitely payed off. The first thing Marco saw when he walked in the hallway graveyard was Aang, smiling and crying at the same time.

"Giatsu was one of my best friends, even if he was a thousand million years older than me. He was the only one that really understood me. He tried his best to convince the other elder monks that I wasn't suited to the traditional methods of avatar-teaching, that I needed fun. Not saying goodbye to him is a regret I now feel stronger than ever." Aang said sadly. "What exactly did he do? To save all those people?".

Marco made a small smile. "When the fire nation attacked, he led them away from the refugees from the temple, aka the group who escaped and lived. He then blew every single fire nation soldier that had seen then off the cliff. He fought for hours, taking out fire nation soldier after soldier, but their heightened strength made each of them formidable opponents. After a while, the troops that were attacking him backed off a bit. Giatsu was faced with a new opponent: Fire Lord Sozzin himself. They had a long battle, and Giatsu almost killed the Fire Lord several times. But the eclipse made it too much. Right when Giatsu was about to meet his end, he pushed out one last huge wave of air that blasted hundreds of fire nation troops off the cliff, including the Fire Lord. Most of them, due to Giatsu's kind heart, survived, as Giatsu turned the wave of air into a gentle cloud with his final breath. Even in a state of doom, he was opposed to killing. He was truly one of the greatest airbenders ever.".

Aang just stood there. That was a lot to take in. Marco was worried that he had done something wrong. Then, in an instant, Aang leaped up and turned around.

"Giatsu was the best! But we can't dwindle on the past forever. We have some travelling to do."

Katara, who had been standing with Sokka in the doorway of the room for the greater part of Marco's story, sighed. "Let me guess: giant badger moles?".

Aang laughed. "Close- koi fish!".

Marco couldn't resist laughing and adding,"I might just join you for that." Which caused the whole group to erupt in laughter.

"Okay, c'mon, the giant fish won't ride themselves!" Aang said as he started towards the exit.

Only Marco noticed his bow of respect towards the grave of his teacher.

AN: Sorry, no Kyoshi island. Next chapter! :3 For now, I hope you enjoyed! Bye! 


	7. AN

**AN: Sorry everyone... I recently got a really nasty concussion (six soccer balls to the face) and I can only have 10 minutes of "screen time" a day. I won't be able to update for a bit, but I will continue, just not now. Thanks!**


End file.
